Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Throughout its history, BMW cars and motorcycles have been successful in a range of motorsport activities. Mainly before World War II, BMW motorcycles were winning e.g. at the Isle of Man TT. Apart from the factory efforts, many privateer teams enter BMW road cars in Touring car racing. BMW also entered cars or provided engines in Formula One, Formula Two and sportscar racing. BMW is currently active in ALMS, the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and the Superbike World Championship.

An outstanding role has been played by the 1,500 cc BMW M10 engine block. The four cylinder started with modest 75 hp (56 kW) in 1961, became successful in touring cars, developed over 300 hp (224 kW) in 1970s Formula Two, and at the ripe age of a quarter century, produced almost twenty-fold its original power in the 1986 turbocharged BMW M12/13/1. As the base of the BMW S14 engine of the original BMW M3, it collected many more wins.